Gorjanc Prelević: Democrats took over the narrative from DPS, ready for personal insults and arrogance from a position of force

Executive Director of the Human Rights Action (HRA) Tea Gorjanc Prelević said that Democratic Montenegro "continues to demonstrate violations of democratic standards, readiness for personal insults, and especially arrogance from a position of force."

Gorjanc Prelević reacted to the allegations of the Democrats published in the article "A suspended police officer defends suspended police officers, and Gorjanc Prelević gives him a political and media shield."

"The Democrats are the ruling party that independently controls the ministries of interior and defense. From those heights, they opened fire with all their might on a lawyer who announced criminal charges against their members due to indications that there is abuse of power and damage to the budget during suspensions and dismissals, which are advertised daily in the media. If what lawyer Radulović claims is true, then the Democrats' failures could cost Montenegro a lot, i.e. every one of its citizens, so it is better to stop them in time. Let us just remember Vesna Bratić and her party's 'purge' of school directors. The amount that citizens have already paid for her handling of power is over 400.000 euros, and that was only until July of this year. So far, the courts have legally annulled at least 38 of Bratić's illegal dismissal decisions, and the state is now paying compensation to these 'written-off' people, instead of using that money to build kindergartens and hospitals," Gorjanc Prelević stated.

He adds that "with threats and blatant disqualifications, the Democrats are obviously trying to prevent lawyer Radulović, and all others to whom threatening messages are being sent, from processing their mass dismissals and suspensions in the police and military."

"Democrats brag about the process they call 'vetting' in the security and defense sector. However, it is unclear whether this vetting is carried out according to some regulation or according to the Democrats' party impulses? Is there really evidence against all the officials who are their targets, or are Democrats working on forming a party police force, based on the principle of 'dismounting Kurt and mounting Murta', as we had to learn from the example of the aforementioned Minister Bratić, without going any further into the past. Why should we believe them that they are better than Bratićka or the DPS? Why should citizens trust any government at their word? The so-called vetting, which they carry out in their own way, still needs to withstand the scrutiny of the state prosecutor's office and the courts, and in disputes such as those announced by Radulović. If it all leads to the same damage that Bratićka caused, then Radulović must be given credit, because he warned about it in a timely manner."

Gorjanc Prelević also states that "loud trumpets about 'vetting' are also convenient for diverting attention from the painful truth and responsibility for the mass suffering in Cetinje, for which Democratic Party officials are panickingly denying responsibility."

"The smearing of Radulović as 'call a lawyer' and 'a suspended police officer for tyre fraud' is a narrative that the Democrats have shamelessly taken over from the DPS. First, Radulović is undoubtedly a lawyer, and the Bar Association of Montenegro is not yet a party police force, so its members can also be politically independent lawyers who have not been convicted of crimes and who the Chamber itself assesses as worthy of trust for practicing law. Second, during the DPS government, in 2013, a spin was created for the first time about Radulović's suspension from the police 'because of tyres'. This was the government's reaction when he, by name and surname, together with MANS, filed criminal charges against then-officials for various abuses, starting from electoral abuses, to those for organised crime and money laundering, to the illegal arrest of MANS activists. It is interesting that the DPS never directly attacked Radulović, as the Democrats did, but their media advisor, Beba, did that dirty work. "Popović, and the regime media. What is certain is that Radulović, who fought against abuses of power both then and now, certainly deserves public recognition, unlike the police authorities of the DPS then and the Democrats now who fight against their critics with down-to-earth methods," Gorjanc Prelević said.

He also adds that the assessments that he is "spinning" and creating a "political shield" are not accurate.

"My sole wish, what drives me, is for Montenegro to be what it could be with responsible governance - a good democracy in which people would live without unnecessary damage caused by an incompetent and vain government," said Gorjanc Prelević.